Quarterback controversy? Not according to Tucker

BOULDER» Nine games into his tenure as Colorado’s football coach, Mel Tucker is well aware that plenty has to change for the Buffaloes to get on the winning track.

Right now, however, he doesn’t believe a change at quarterback is required.

On Monday, two days after a 3114 loss at UCLA, Tucker gave a vote of confidence to senior quarterback Steven Montez despite the Buffs (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12) losing their fifth straight game and Montez struggling for the third consecutive road game.

“I’m very confident that Steven gives us our best chance,” Tucker said. “We’re working with him to get him better. Obviously he’s got to make great decisions, got to take care of the football. He missed a couple of throws, had a couple poor reads, but he also made some good plays and we’ve got to play better around him. Everybody’s got to be on the same page and doing their job in order for us to get the job done.”

CU will host Stanford (4-4, 3-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks) and hopes to stop the bleeding and get back in the win column.

Montez will play a key role in that quest, while redshirt sophomore Tyler Lytle and redshirt freshman Blake Stenstrom continue to wait their turn. Together, Lytle and Stenstrom have thrown just nine career passes.

Lytle spent the past two weeks limited because of a shoulder injury.

Montez has set numerous records during his CU career, including the longest starting streak ever for a Buffs’ quarterback, at 33